Are we a Priest or a Prophet?

A. A priest is a religious person.
         1. Church is their fashion statement.
         2. Knows when to say the right religious words.
         3. Only opens their bible at church.
         4. Only thinks what others think about them.
         5. Looks to be praised or served.
B. The prophet is a true Christian.
         1. Looks to pray for others.
         2. Looks to meet the needs of others.
         3. Looks to hear what God’s word will personally.
         4. Knows the times and season which they are living in.
         5. Cares for the world that is dying without Christ.

Colossians 1:9-10 - For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of Hiswill in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

“THE CALLING OF THE SERVANT”

Acts 6:3 - Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

There have been so many Christians over the years that have obeyed the call to ministry and by the grace of God have gone out to start a fellowship and have created a church from the fellowship. And through this, church is now looking to rise up leaders to serve in the church to guild and direct other young servants to grow and serve in the ministry.

            

But the biggest danger today in the ministry is that the qualifications for ministry are not being followed by a lot of churches. Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of young godly men that the Lord is raising up. But I am talking about the church that is in such a hurry to just fill the needs of ministry that these churches rush to pick unqualified people to do the work of the Lord in the church.

            

And in the rush to fill these needs, the church is not meeting God’s qualifications to ministry and then the church ends up with divisions and controversies that it can cost the integrity of the ministry. But we must remember is that the ministry must follow God’s word and allow the Lord to rise up the right people.

            

So the questions are, what are the guidelines that the church should follow to raise up godly men and women? And what should the leaders look for when wanting to raise up the right person in the ministry?

            

In the Book of Acts chapter 6, God gave us some biblical guidelines to what leaders were to look for when raising up godly people for the work of the ministry.

1. A man of a good reputation - What this means is that for a person to have a good reputation, you need to be going to the church for a while. I have always believed that any person wanting to get involved in ministry had to be going to the church for at lest 6 months and be going to at lest 2 services per week and coming consistently.

In 1 Timothy 3:10 - And let these also first be tested; this is what God wants to see in us, when tested, do we lose heart and run, or do we wait on the Lord?

This will allow the person who is coming to church to get a vision to the philosophy of ministry in the church and allow the Lord to fully use them.

2. Full of the Holy Spirit - First it is a person that shows the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives (Galatians 5:22-25).

This walk is what a pastor or leader wants to see consistently in the life of the believer. It is through the work of the Holy Spirit that allows the person to be waiting upon the Lord. In Romans 12:1-2 - Paul wrote that the life of the believer is to be a living sacrifice and to have our minds transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

But also by the work of the Holy Spirit, is the understanding that the call to ministry is to be a servant (John 16:13-14). So many want to lead, but the call to ministry is to serve.

3. Wisdom - The word wisdom means “having the knowledge of how to regulate one’s relationship with God.” This wisdom comes from fellowship with God through the word of God.

 In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul writing to young Timothy and to us is that it is His word that transforms us for every good work. In Hebrews 5:14 the word says that the Christian that is mature in the word of God will have the discernment to know the good from the evil.

I pray that as we all press toward the goal (Philippians 3:14-16) and that the Lord will continue to guild you and show you all that He has for you and to continue to use your life for His glory till we all are received up in glory.

Time to get out of ministry?

A. Let me give you some reasons why it might be time for you to get out of ministry?

1. Always Complaining - Sometimes people just get bitter and just start finding fault with everything that goes on in ministry. Just step down. Philippians 2:14-15

2. Not repenting of sin - When you are living a lifestyle that contradicts the bible teaching on holiness and you keep practicing a sin. Galatians 5:18-21.

3. Marriage or family is not in order - If your wife is bitter at you because you act one way at home and another way at church, step down. 1st Timothy 3

4. Not willing to read or study the bible - We read to fellowship and study to know God better. If you are not willing to do these, you are serving in the flesh and will just start to cause a division. Matt. 7:21-23

5. Not willing to give up some of your time - If you just serve when you find the time just step down. Half hearted people in ministry cause division. Exodus 18:21

6. You do not agree with your pastor - This has got to be the worse, complaining to others about the senior pastor. Not only are complaining, but you are also bring a division. Why don't you just leave and find a church you like? Galatians 5:18-21.

7. So I can get the praise of man - Self seeking is to get the glory from man is evil. James 3:14-16

8. If you enjoy drinking alcoholic beverages get out of ministry. Leviticus 10:1-11

The greatest danger to the ministry are people who try to bring the workplace mentality of moving up the corporate ladder to the ministry. In Mark 9:33-35 - Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” ³⁴But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. ³⁵And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 

3 Types of Pastors in the Church

1. This is the man that goes to school because he likes the calling, the money and or the fame, just learning from man but not from God, and has not experienced the Lord in his everyday life so he cannot apply scriptures that he does not believe.

2. This is the man that goes to school to learn and believe the truths, as long as they line up with his experiences and feeling, and seeks to share his experiences with people, who he tries to draw men closer to God without truth or fellowship with God.

3. This is the man that is raised up in the church and has a good reputation, wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit, learned in the experiences of growing in grace that the Lord teaches through the word, then goes to school to expand his teaching knowledge, and grows in his relationship with God so that he can go out to teach.

Which type of man will you seek to be?

The Fall of Rome

Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. He wrote a great book called “The History of the Decline and Fall of 

the Roman Empire.”

In his book, his 4 out of the 5 points to the fall of the Roman Empire that I believe is happening in our country.

I. Undermining the sanctity of the home.

         A. The fathers are not at home.

         B. Immorality.

II. Higher taxes to build a greater society.

A. Gave a false sense of security.

III. A mad craze for pleasure.

         A. The thirst for blood.

         B. Immorality.

IV. The building of a great army.

         A. But then neglect the people.

V. The decay of religion.

         A. Becoming distorted.

         B. Churches no longer preach on sin.

         C. More programs then truth.

         D. The material is more important then the spiritual.

The 30% - 70% to get out of debt.

I. I call it the 30% - 70% get out of debt.

         A. 10% to Tithing.

                  1. This is money that goes to the Lord first.

         B. 10% to savings.

                  1. This goes to a savings account that you never touch.

         C. 10% to spend as you wish.

                  1. This goes to buying anything you wish.

                           a. Go out to lunch.

                           b. Go out to dinner.

                           c. Go out to an event.

                           d. Gas money.

         D. 70% to pay off all debt.

                  1. This pays off all credit cards.

                  2. Meals for the home.

                           a. Yes it means eating at home.

                           b. Or taking a lunch.

II. What you need to do.

         A. You need to add up all your debt.

         B. How much income do you bring in?

         C. Now put to practice the plan.

III. The key to financial victory.

         A. Is being honest with yourself.

         B. Getting so frustrated, you want to deal with it.

The Apostle Paul Wasn't Qualified?

(I found this in a newspaper many years and thought you might enjoy it.) 

One of the toughest tasks a church faces is choosing a good minister.

A member of an official board undergoing this painful process finally lost patience. He'd watched the Pastoral Relations Committee reject applicant after applicant for some fault, alleged or otherwise. 

It was time for a bit of soul-searching on the part of the committee.  

So he stood up and read a letter purporting to be from another applicant.

Gentlemen, understanding your pulpit is vacant, I should like to apply for the position. I have many qualifications.  I've been a preacher with much success and also had some success as a writer. Some say I'm a good organizer.  

I've been a leader most places I've been.  "I'm over fifty years of age. I have never preached in one place for more than three years. In some places I have left town after my work has caused riots and disturbances.

I must admit I have been in jail three or four times, but not because of any real wrongdoing. My health is not good, though I still get a great deal done.  The churches I have preached in have been small, though located in several large cities.

I've not got along well with religious leaders in towns where I have preached. In fact, some have threatened me and even attacked me physically. I am not too good at keeping records. I have been known to forget whom I have baptized. "However, if you can use me, I shall do my best for you." The board member looked over the committee.

"Well, what do you think?  Shall we call him?" The good church folks were aghast.

Call an unhealthy, trouble-making, absent-minded ex-jailbird?

Was the board member crazy? 

Who signed the application?  

Who had such colossal nerve?

The board member eyed them all keenly before he answered. 

"It's signed, The Apostle Paul." 

By Rev. C. W. Kirkpatrick, Ludlow, Mass.

Thought you heard it all?

I was teaching one sunday and I can see from the pulpit a man and a woman together. They had started coming to the church and they were just starting to open up to me, so I knew they were dating. The girlfriend had this angry looking face and I can see from her expressions that she was mad at him. As I looked at his face, I just see this happy guy without a care in the world, like he had just won the lottery.

I wondered what he had done to her? I knew that I had to speak to them to see if I could minister to them or just be able to talk with her. So after the service, she came up to me and she wanted to talk, and she wanted me to talk with boyfriend too, and from the look of her face, I knew it would not going be good.

So we get together, sit down, pray and I ask what's up and if everything is fine between them? She says no, and when I ask how he is doing, he says all is well and he thought they were doing fine. Then she speaks up and says "look pastor, before we came to church today we had sex." I look over to the boyfriend and ask if this is true?

The boyfriend speaks up and says "pastor, today we did not have sex," and the girlfriend speaks up with an angry and loud voice and says "yes we did!" Then the boyfriend speaks up again and says "look pastor, today we made love, last thursday we had sex." As I looked at there faces, her face was one of shock, his face was one of the stupidest looks you ever seen. I shared with them that they should break up and let God be first in their lives.

My calling to leadership.

I had been serving in the children's ministry for about 2 years. And as I was reading my bible in the book of Nehemiah, I discovered Nehemiah's heart for the people of Jerusalem and how God opened the door for Nehemiah to go back and minister to the Jews there in Jerusalem.

This lead me to want to grow more in ministry and serve at my church. As I was praying how God would open the door for me, the pastor said he was going to start a class on leadership called "Shepherd School." So I went to the first class. When my pastor came to the class he had a case of books he wanted us to read.

It was the book "Victorious Christian Service" by Alan Redpath. This book is about the book of Nehemiah. I was so blessed how God had called me to die to Him.